Strange Duet
by fluffygcfh
Summary: An AU in which Raditz does not get the chance to come to Earth. This story will no doubt have yaoi in the future. When that happens I will raise therating as is needed
1. First Movement

Author's Note: My very first fic! This is an AU story in which Radditzu was   
unable to come to Earth, and thus Goku was left to his own devices for two   
more years. Various evildoers pop out of the woodwork, as they have a   
tendency to do if things get too quiet in the DBZ universe, and Goku is   
currently at the same level he was at when he arrives on Namek in the Freeza   
saga. The pairing is GxV and Vegeta should show up around chapter 3.  
  
Warnings: None as of yet  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ and am making no profit, so on so forth.  
Strange Duet: Chapter One  
  
The man known as Son Goku had been fishing with his son, enjoying the simple   
happiness that came with being in nature with his one and only child, who   
was now six years of age. Goku was inwardly delighted that his son was   
finally being allowed to learn to fight, as his wife had finally relented in   
her crusade to rear the perfect scholar. An incident involving an interview   
at a prestigious school, and a somewhat lecherous interviewer propositioning   
Goku when he thought that Chichi was out of earshot was to thank for that.  
  
Goku sincerely hoped that the man's physical therapy was doing well, as he   
had been very decent about not pressing charges, and it had been somewhat   
uncalled for of Chichi to throw him out of that third-story window like   
that. Chichi was nice and all, but sometimes she got a little carried away.  
  
Goku smiled at his son Gohan, who was currently napping beside him, tail  
twitching as he dreamt. His son had shown great promise; he had already  
advanced passed the ki level he was at when he was his age. Goku sighed in   
contentment, and since the fish weren't biting, he decided to join his son   
in slumber. Unfortunately, the plan wasn't followed when he was blindsided   
by a ki blast from behind. Goku immediately scooped up his now awake and   
terrified son, and took shelter behind a rock, and began searching for the   
unknown assailant's ki.  
  
'This is bad,' he thought. 'Who would be willing to attack me and my son   
like out of nowhere like this? Well, whoever it is, it sure isn't anyone   
I've ever felt before. I don't think it's human, but it can't be Piccolo   
either.'  
  
"Daddy?" Son Goku looked down at his son.  
  
"Yeah, Gohan?" he asked.  
  
"A-are you okay?" The young boy attempted to look around his father's back   
to the place where the ki blast had hit.  
  
Goku quickly put on his best cheerful, reassuring face and said, "Don't you   
worry about your Dad, Gohan. He'll be just fine. Now you stay here and stay   
hidden while Dad goes and takes care of whatever mean man went and spoiled   
our father-son fishing trip, okay?" His son nodded slowly, still obviously   
petrified, and obeyed his father's wishes.  
  
In truth, the injury that Goku had sustained to his back hurt like hell,   
apparently not only was willing to stoop to ambush, but was fairly powerful   
as well. Goku powered up and flew up above the treetops and came face to   
face with his adversary.  
  
He found himself somewhat taken aback by what he found. It wasn't human,   
that much was obvious. The creature had large emerald green eyes, large   
ears, and a long poofy tail. Its entire body was covered in fur, electric   
blue for the most part, but with a deep royal blue on its chest, the tips of   
its ears and tail. The creature had a very strange and exotic look to it,   
almost cat-like. Goku wondered what in the world this creature was doing   
here and why it felt the need to attack him like this. It had a large scar   
on it, which started on its right side and reached all of the way to is   
upper left chest. It was plain to see that the injury had been brutal and   
Goku could sense a savage, desperate quality to its aura. It was all so very   
bizarre.  
  
Goku prepared to question the creature when it suddenly began to laugh.  
It was somewhat disturbing, as the creature's voice did not really seem  
suited to such a crazed, chilling sound. The creature suddenly stopped  
laughing and looked Goku in the eyes.  
  
"Hello, Saiyajin. I finally found you. It took three long years, but I  
finally found you. Do you know how?" The creature laughed again, softly  
this time. "Shortly after all of your kind are born they have a microchip   
implanted in them, right here." The creature brought its left arm up and   
slowly pointed to the inside of his right wrist. "Sala is the word in your   
language, I believe. It's so that the horrible little murdering whelps can   
be tracked should the need happen to arise. It took me all this time to find   
that out, and use it to my advantage, but I did. The system I devised can   
track a Sala and pinpoint the carrier of one to the planet they are   
currently on. Your Sala led me to you, Saiyajin, the last of your foul race,   
save your damned prince." The creature narrowed its eyes in an expression of   
pure distaste. "And now, I swear I will kill you, and avenge my race and   
every other one you've destroyed!" The creature then dropped into an   
aggressive battle stance.  
  
Goku floated at the same height as the creature with his fists balled at  
his sides. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "Who are you?"  
  
The creature did not drop its battle stance and looked as if it did not  
believe Goku's confusion for one minute. "Allow me to introduce myself,   
then. I am named Machia, and I am prince of the planet Vellia. You know, the   
one whose people you purged of life? I'm sure you remember." The creature's   
voice dripped with hate and contempt. "Don't you dare play games with me,   
you vicious, murdering, Saiyajin monster, because I see straight through   
you, and I won't leave you to destroy this world like you did mine."  
  
Goku narrowed his eye in puzzlement. 'He keeps talking about these Saiyajin.   
Something's wrong. I can sense it.' He decided to continue to try and reason   
with this strange character. "I still don't know what you're talking about,"   
he said. "You must have made a mistake with that system you mentioned,   
because I've lived here all of my life, and I've never even heard of any of   
those things your talking about." He paused and the asked "And what is a   
Saiyajin?"  
  
As Goku spoke, Machia's eyes slowly took on a shocked look, like one who  
has been slapped across the face without provocation. Then the look of  
revulsion that had been there since he had first addressed Goku resurfaced.   
"Enough," he growled "Die!" And then he launched his attack.  
  
Goku blocked the first blow the alien sent his way, and continued to  
simply block, not making any offensive moves as of yet. 'This guy's pretty   
strong,' he thought, 'but in his mental state, any skill he might have had   
has gone down the drain.' It was making the battle somewhat easier for   
Goku, allowing him to see to it that the deranged creature was not hurt,   
merely expending his ki. 'I don't really want to hurt him,' Goku thought.   
'He doesn't seem bad, just somehow sad.'  
  
The creature thought that the battle was going rather well for him. After   
all, he wasn't dead yet and the Saiyajin seemed to have trouble fighting   
back as it was only blocking instead of taking any sort of offensive. If all   
went well, then the Saiyajin would tire out and he could finish the foul   
thing off. He threw a punch as hard as he could, straight to the Saiyjin's   
face.  
  
And was promptly thrown right to the ground of the green planet he had  
tracked his quarry to. He looked and saw a small creature peering at him  
from behind a rock. It bore a great resemblance to the Saiyajin, with spiky,   
black fur on its head and a brown tail weaving behind it.  
  
'It can only be the Saiyajin's child, but there should be no other Saiyajin   
left.' He looked up and saw the Saiyajin descending from the sky to finish   
him. 'I have failed, and I'm...going to die!' Unconsciousness claimed his   
awareness.  
  
********  
  
A few minutes later, Son Goku arrived at Capsule Corporation Headquarters,   
holding the alien by the scruff of the neck, and with Gohan flying behind   
him. Having deciding that taking the creature to a normal hospital would   
probably cause all kinds of unnecessary and unanswerable questions involving   
the patient's species and health care plan, Goku had figured that Bulma   
would be the one who was able to sort things out, if anyone.  
  
Hours later, Bulma would muse to herself that it had been such a nice,  
peaceful day too. She had been working on creating a new, more economical   
version of the SM00015 capsule and making wonderful progress, even for a   
genius such as her. It was then she happened to look out the window that she   
liked to gaze out of sometimes when she was working when she saw Goku and   
Gohan floating in the window next to her, holding a big blue thing, and   
promptly fell out of her computer chair.  
  
Goku watched Bulma pick herself off the floor, and wondered idly if all   
girls were dramatic as Bulma and Chichi, and tried to remember if he had   
ever met one that wasn't. He decided he couldn't think of any.  
  
Moments later, they were in one of Capsule Corporation's five medical   
faculties where Bulma analyzed the creature. While she was busy restraining   
it to avoid any mishaps, Goku explained that it had attacked him out of   
nowhere, but didn't really seem evil. He thought that it had just somehow   
confused him with someone else. She discovered that he (at least she assumed   
it was a he, though it wore no clothes and she could see no, ahem, evidence   
of it being male) was suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and a blow to   
the head she had no doubt he suffered during his run-in with Goku.  
  
"Uh, Bulma?" Bulma turned from her analyzing/gawking to answer her friend.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"This, uh, well... this might sound a bit weird, but uh, is there any way to   
find out whether or not there's a microchip in my wrist?"  
  
Bulma raised an eyebrow "In your wrist?"  
  
Goku nodded and pointed to his right wrist. "Yeah, my right one."  
  
"Okaaay... follow me." Bulma walked to the door, motioned Goku to follow   
her, and led him to the room where she had been working beforehand. When   
they got there, Bulma walked over to the closet and began rummaging for what   
it was she needed, a device that had originally been created to scan   
capsules that had lost their label to see what was inside, but she had   
recalibrated it to suit a more wide range of uses once when she had nothing   
else better to do.  
  
Eventually, she came up with what she was looking for. She promptly hooked   
it up to an available USB port, before instructing Goku to hold out his   
right wrist.  
  
The computer made an odd humming noise before the screen went blank, and  
a series of data in an unreadable language appeared to them. Bulma blinked   
and stared for a moment and then remarked, "Well this is strange. I can't   
read it! Is it encrypted or something? I wonder what it's supposed to   
say... Hey, Goku! Goku?"  
  
Bulma turned to look at her friend, who had remained silent since they had   
left the medical room, and was now standing and staring at the computer   
screen looking like he had been punched in the stomach. Bulma decide that   
something must be wrong and attempted to rouse Goku from his stupor.  
  
"Goku?" At the sound of his name, he snapped out his reverie, turned,  
and began to walk towards the window. "Goku! Where are you going?"  
  
Goku threw his legs over the window seal and prepared to take flight. Bulma   
was beginning to get annoyed by the whole mysteriousness of the situation,   
as well as Goku's equally mysterious behavior. She ran towards the window in   
a vain attempt to get a hold of him before he took to the air. He stopped   
ten feet from the window and turned to her.  
  
"Sorry, Bulma! I need to go to the house and take care of something, but  
I'll be back soon! If that blue guy wakes up and causes any trouble Gohan   
will help until I can come back! Bye!"  
  
Bulma felt decidedly annoyed now. "Goku you get back here right now and  
tell me what's happening!" she screeched with all the screeching power that   
she had in her as Goku zoomed through the air and out of sight. She huffed   
in indignation, turned to the computer with the strange lettering still on   
the screen, saved it, and made a printout of it. Done with that, she marched   
herself to the medical ward that she had just come from. 'Well, then, we'll   
see about this!  
  
********  
  
Goku arrived at the Son residence, and saw with a modicum of relief that  
his wife Chichi was still out shopping, as her being there would have meant   
long, drawn out explanations of where was Gohan, what he had been doing,   
what he was doing, and what he was going to do. Said questions would no   
doubt have taken a long amount of time and would have been filled with his   
wife's patented yelling and Goku just didn't have the time to spare. He   
wanted to get this done now. Goku opened the door to his house and walked to   
his bedroom to where he kept the dragon balls.  
  
Some time ago, he had begun collecting them as a hobby. He now had five.   
'Finding the rest shouldn't take too long,' he thought as he picked the five   
balls and the dragon radar up and took to the sky. 'I'm sure that guy made a   
mistake somewhere along the line,' he thought as he picked the six-star   
dragon ball up from where it had been lying in a  
remote mountain slope. 'I mean, even if I AM one of those Saiyajin, I   
couldn't have killed all those people like he said. There must be some sort   
of mistake. The one who did it must have been some kind of criminal.'  
  
Goku found the seventh and final dragon ball in a lonesome desert far  
from civilization. 'I'll just call the dragon and I'll wish to know the  
truth about my family and where I come from. Then the dragon will tell me   
the truth and I'll go back to Capsule Corp and tell that guy and everyone   
else what the mistake is and tell them how it's all just a big  
misunderstanding, and that'll be that.' Then, having all seven dragon balls,   
Son Goku prepared to summon the dragon god Shenlong.  
*******  
  
"What is the wish that you have summoned me for?" Boomed the voice of the   
dragon god Shenlong. 'No turning back now...' thought Goku as he looked up   
at the enormous dragon as it loomed above him. He gathered his courage and   
shouted as loudly as he could so as to be heard by Shenlong. "I wish to know   
the truth of my family and heritage!" For a moment there was silence, then   
Shenlong's eyes began to glow a deep red and he boomed, "So it shall be." A   
white light engulfed Goku until he could no longer see the landscape   
surrounding him.  
  
********  
  
He was somewhere, but he didn't know where. It was like floating in a sea of   
white, and then suddenly he was in a hall, sparsely decorated, with white   
walls and a red tile floor. He was being carried. Why did he feel so small?  
  
The man who had been carrying him stopped. A voice came from somewhere, deep   
and harsh sounding. It said, "Ah, so this is Bardock's new brat, is  
it? Ha ha, he sure as hell looks like him! Are you taking him to find out   
his fighting potential?" The man carrying him answered, "No, not yet,   
Caula's in a bad way. She wants to see it before she goes." He then he   
continued on his way.  
  
Soon the man turned and went into a room where a woman was sitting up in a   
bed. Goku's first thought when the man placed him into her arms was that she   
was pretty, and that she smelled really nice, but then Goku saw her, really   
saw her, and he sensed that she had been weakened somehow. 'She's dying!'   
Goku realized with distress.  
  
The woman, Goku's mother, held him in her arms for a moment, and seemed  
content to just look at him. Finally she spoke to him. "My darling little   
one. You have no idea what you've done to me, do you? How cruel you've been   
to your mother. She's going to die now, you know." She smiled at him. "So   
very innocent. It's okay, I don't blame you." Her voice was growing quiet   
now, as though she were tired. "I think I'll name you Kakaratto." She   
slumped against the bed and was silent. The infant Kakaratto, sensing what   
had happened, suddenly began to cry loudly. "Mama! No!"  
  
Colors streaked past Goku's vision, and he felt as if he was moving at a  
great speed. Suddenly he was floating in the upper atmosphere of a large  
red planet. He saw a vision of a man who looked just like him, fighting  
against a horde of aliens; and screaming for someone named Freeza to come   
out and fight him. 'My father?' thought Goku. He then saw when Freeza came   
out of his ship and killed his father, then obliterated the planet below in   
one attack.  
  
Colors once again zoomed by and he felt time pass, faster and farther  
this time, until he was in a curved white hallway, with a strange sterile   
and cold feel to it. Doors stood at every two feet or so. Strange creatures   
marched by, dressed in armor. None of them paid Goku any attention. 'I guess   
they can't see me,' he thought. One of the doors opened up and a tall, burly   
man with long spiky hair down to his knees emerged. Goku saw with   
astonishment that he had a brown tail wrapped around his waist. He fell into   
step behind the man. The man appeared to be talking into a device mounted on   
his ear, which had a green lens that went over his eye.  
  
"Yes, prince Vegeta. No sir, nothing out of the ordinary. Yes sir, I   
understand. Excuse me Sir, but I have been meaning to tell you something   
lately. You see, my younger brother was sent out on an assignment, but he   
never returned." There was a pause. "It was just before that, sir. He was   
sent out in a pod modified for infants." Another pause, longer this time.   
Goku could hear shouting coming from the device, but he could not make out   
the words. Whoever it was, he sure sounded angry. "I-I'm sorry, my Prince,   
I'll send you the coordinates as soon as possible."  
  
At that moment, one of the aliens bumped into the man, and he was knocked   
against the wall. "Watch where you're going, Saiyajin dog! Wouldn't want any   
accidents to happen, now would we?" The creature grinned, and Goku saw that   
it had some truly nasty-looking green teeth. It was shorter than the   
longhaired man by a few inches, had a green scaly body, a stocky build, and   
small dark green curved horns on its head.  
  
The man growled at the creature. "You should watch where you're going,   
Bitzet. No Saiyajin would ever be afraid of any idle threat." The man   
lifted his nose up, crossed his arms, and a look of disgust crossed his   
face. "Least of all a foul smelling, weak, ugly-ass creature like you." Out   
of nowhere, a beam of ki came from behind and sliced through the man's back,   
passed through his body and out of his chest. The  
longhaired man held his hand over his heart, staggered for a moment, and   
fell to his knees. His eyes were wide with pain and surprise. A creature,   
the same species as the scaly green one walked up, its hands on its hips. It   
wore a triumphant smirk on its face. The longhaired man fell face down onto   
the floor and lay perfectly still.  
  
The larger creature stood next to him and looked down on his prone body.   
"Tsk, tsk," it said. "Will you Saiyajin dogs ever learn to know your place   
and keep your tongue in your head?" They both laughed, a horrible hissing   
sound.  
  
Goku was left for a moment, stupefied, suspended in the vision of the  
past that the dragon had given him. 'This is horrible. Is this all that the   
dragon is going to show me? So much pain and death,' he thought.  
  
After a few seconds, he felt himself being pulled again, and he found   
himself surrounded by the same white light as before. He felt a strange  
sensation, and images of his birth race began racing into his mind,   
knowledge and information ran by his brain at light speed. History, myths,   
culture, language all came to him in the blink of an eye.  
  
Finally, a vision of a man like him, a Saiyajin, with a lithe, graceful  
body and a dark flame of hair atop his head. He had a ruthless and callous   
look on his face, and yet Goku found himself drawn to him. 'My prince,' he   
thought. 'The only one left in the entire universe that is like me. My   
prince, Vegeta.'  
  
Abruptly, the vision of his prince was gone. He had returned to reality and   
Goku collapsed to his hands and knees from the shock of it all. The dragon's   
eyes once again glowed red and the dragon balls simultaneously rose to the   
air. "Your wish has been granted. Fare thee well." Then the balls scattered   
and the dragon vanished.  
  
Goku slowly stood up and scratched the back of his head in contemplation. He   
stopped when he felt it. 'My scar, the one I got when I fell on my head as a   
baby... It's gone!' 


	2. Second Movement

Strange Duet Second Movement

A few minutes after Goku left, Bulma back at the arrived at the medical ward to find the blue creature sitting on the bed she had left him on, rubbing his head and looking about the room as if it was completely confused. When he saw Bulma he gawked at her as if she was the single strangest creature he had ever beheld. She decided it would be best to introduce herself (politely, as he had already broken his restraints, and she didn't have quite as much faith in Gohan's ability to 'help' as Goku) before proceeding with anything else.

"Hi, My name is Bulma, and place this is the Capsule Corporation Headquarters, what's your name?" She said in her most sweet and non-threatening voice. 

The creature stopped staring, but looked no less confused. "My name is Machia, and I am…ah… very pleased to meet you…this may sound strange, but can you tell me if I'm dead?" 

Bulma blinked at the question for a few seconds before answering: "Um, I don't think so."

"I thought not. Could you tell me what happened to the Saiyajin, by that I mean the muscular man with the spiky hair and the orange outfit?" 'And why he brought me here instead of just killing me_.' _He added silently

"You mean Goku? He left just a few minutes ago…" Bulma remembered what it was that she had come rushing up here for. "Say, are you hungry or anything?" The alien nodded, "I am, but aren't you afraid of the Saiyajin coming back?" Bulma blinked at the response. "Why would I be afraid of Goku? I've known him all of his life?" An idea struck her.

She walked up to Machia and held the printout for him to see. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know what all this is would you?" she said. "It's writing, in the Saiyajin language," he replied. It says 'Kakaratto, third class, son of Bardock and Caula, also of the third class'. Kakaratto, what a strange name for a Saiyajin…hmmm here it says something that I cannot read, the characters are in archaic Saiyajin writing, which is odd. Birth date, this is eight days before the Saiyajin home world was destroyed! I did not know the Saiyajin sent them out when they were that young! Last, below the birth date are the coordinates of the planet he was sent to before the Saiyajin home-world was destroyed." He examined the coordinates for a moment to see if the planet was any he knew of. His eyes widened as the realization struck. 'But that's this very world!' he thought, 'But it seems this planet's original inhabitants are still here. It's impossible that a Saiyajin as powerful as him would take over twenty years to purge a world like this, without there even being any evidence of one happening. So why hasn't the Saiyajin carried out his mission?'

********

Later, Bulma led Gohan and Machia to the kitchen to get him something to eat. She had offered to let him stay in bed, because he probably still needed rest, but he had declined. Apparently, there was some kind of etiquette custom where he was from that you could only eat where the host ate if you were a guest in an unfamiliar household. He had insisted, even though Bulma had told him it wasn't necessary. Bulma figured that since he was away from home, it would probably make him feel more at ease to act like he did when he was wherever it was he came from. 

Once there, they found that was some vegetable stew and freshly baked bread that Bulma's mother had prepared earlier that evening. The stew needed reheating, though. As they were waiting for it to finish microwaving Bulma asked casually what had brought him here, and why he had felt the need to attack Goku. 

He thought for a moment and said, "I came here looking for the Saiyajin that slaughtered my people; but now I think that I must have made a mistake. This 'Goku' can not possibly be the same monster that destroyed Vellia, my home." Machia watched Gohan as he sat on the kitchen counter and absently kicked his legs against the cabinet doors, waiting for dinner to be ready. 'He is most defiantly a Saiyajin, but his even his very aura is different than the one I sensed on Vellia. His son is the same way. Neither of them are vicious killers to say the least." He watched as Bulma poured the stew into three bowls. "However, I still do not understand what it was that made him turn out so different from his kin. Perhaps it is because he is missing his tail…"

Then there was a loud knock at the door, a 'boom, boom' sound and a terrible loud screeching voice rose from the other side of the door that led to the backyard. "GOOOKU," it screeched, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WHERE'S GOHAN, HE HAS SCHOOL TOMORROW!" The 'boom, boom' pounding on the door grew even louder. Bits of plaster fell from the ceiling and the door swung open. It revealed and enraged-looking human female, eyes bulging and fists clenched in rage. 

Gohan gulped "Mama?" 

********

It was sunset. Son Goku leaned against a wall in a small town not far from where he had summoned Shenlong. After the dragon had left, he had come here, simply to watch the people going about their day-to-day activities. He saw people shopping, going on dates, having fun with their family and friends, going about errands, and a few that appeared to be doing absolutely nothing, just as he was.

'All of this, all of these people'

__

He saw a young girl, no more than six years old, walking with her mother. She was holding her mother's hand and chattering about what had gone on in school that day.

'Should be dead'

__

After the mother and daughter had passed by, a group of teenagers walked by, talking loudly with one another and laughing. Behind them was a middle-aged man talking on his cell phone, oblivious to anything but the conversation.

'If I had not fell and lost my memory, all of this would be gone, and it would be because of me.'__

Goku saw in his mind's eye the image of Freeza, laughing as he reduced the Saiyajin homeworld to dust. 'Most of the Saiyajin were not planet purgers …not until Freeza came along. He's terrible, worse than anyone else I've ever faced before. He destroys all that he sees fit with no regard to anything save his own whims. I can't just allow him to keep on doing it; I have to find a way to defeat him.' He thought of the to scaly monsters that had killed his brother. 'I should avenge him. I can't let them get away with killing him for no reason like that, even if he was a bad guy, he was still my brother.' 

A vision of the last thing the dragon had shown him flashed before his mind, along with the words the blue alien who had started all of this had said just a few hours ago '"The last of your foul race, save your damned prince_" _maybe I should leave. If I did I could be with my prince, Vegeta.' thought Goku. 'I wonder if I should go find him; I bet he's lonely, with no other Saiyajin to talk to.'

'But no, that's silly, I can't. This is my home. I belong here. My friends and family live here. There's no way I can just go out into space looking for people I have no idea how to find. I don't even know where I could find a spaceship. I am still Son Goku, the same man I was yesterday.

Goku stepped away from the wall, turned and went down a secluded alleyway. He looked around to make sure no one would see him before he slowly levitated up into the sky. He felt the wind, smelled the fresh air of summer, and looked up at the multicolored sky with the sun peeking halfway out of the mountains in the distance. Goku began to fly back to Capsule Corp. He flew at a leisurely pace, not in any particular hurry. He saw dense forests of deep green, bustling cities, and beautiful green fields where he could sense the small woodland creatures as they went about their daily business. Son Goku sighed to himself, 'This is my home_, _nomatter what.'he thought_. _

********

__

Goku landed on the lawn at Capsule Corp. Headquarters, and the first thing he heard was loud shouting and crashes coming from the kitchen. He could distinctly make out the voices of Chichi and of Bulma. Normally, he would be able to make out their words at this distance, but both woman were shouting at the same time, and he couldn't quite understand what they where saying. Goku knew in his heart that he was about to get an earful, and probably end of sleeping on the couch tonight. 'Here goes nothing_,' _he thought. 

He opened the door to behold a scene of chaos. The kitchen table was overturned, there were pieces of broken dishes everywhere, food was splattered on the walls, and from behind the table Goku could see the tip of his son's tail, poofed up like a bottlebrush. He was clearly very upset. The alien was standing in a defensive posture in the corner, a look of complete horror on his face. He looked pretty upset too. In the center of the room, Bulma and Chichi stood nose-to-nose, hands balled up into fists, and faces red with rage. It looked like they had been going at it for a while. Nobody had taken any notice of him as of yet. Goku put on his best 'brightly cheerful' face and said, "Hey everybody, how's it going?"

Both ladies abruptly stopped their catfight and glared at him. The alien began edging over to take shelter behind the table with Gohan. Chichi narrowed her eyes into the most impressive death glare he had ever seen her give him, and she had given him a lot of death glares. She stomped up to him, pointed her index finger into his face, and shrieked, "YOU!"

Goku didn't really understand much of what was said after that; because Chichi was far beyond the point of caring about piddling things like whether or not she was being understood. This was the angriest Goku had ever seen her in his entire life. For the next twenty or so minutes all Goku could catch were snippets like "worried sick", "house empty, dragon balls gone", "Irresponsible", "find you gallivanting with freaks", "why I bother I don't know" and various obscenities. 

Finally Goku managed to get a word in. "Calm down Chichi, there's no need to overreact. I-"

Chichi cut him off before he could finish. "Overreact? OVERREACT? I have had it with you and your damn flighty attitude! You have no idea what it means to settle down and be a responsible family man! I'm taking Gohan and I am going home! If I ever see you again it will be TOO SOON! Come on, Gohan we're leaving!" Chichi turned in time to see that Gohan had fled the room in terror. Frustrated, Chichi stormed out at the door and slammed it behind her. For a full thirty seconds nobody moved or made a sound as they listened to Chichi's air-car as it flew off. Goku turned to Bulma, put his hand behind his head in his trademark manner, and said, "Umm, Bulma it looks like me and Gohan are going to need a place to stay until Chichi cools down, is it ok if we stay here?"

Bulma smiled at her longtime friend. "Sure, Goku. You know you're always welcome here. I'll go and get the guest rooms ready for you guys" 

Goku smiled back and said, "Thanks Bulma, its really great of you to take us in like that on such short notice. I hope I can make it up to you sometime." He pointed at Machia, still behind the kitchen table. "While your gone I need to have a talk with this guy, is that alright?"

"Sure thing, I'll come back here when everything's ready. You guy's hang out and here and talk, I'll send some worker robots to try and clean up this mess while I'm at it. Be right back!" She waved and then left the other two to themselves so that they could sort out whatever issues they had which led to the day's earlier events.

When Bulma was gone, Goku dropped his cheerful facade. He sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter and said, "You can come out from behind there now, Chichi's gone and I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm sorry about what happened earlier today, you were right about me being a Saiyajin; I just didn't know it because I lost my memory. I had to use the dragon balls because I didn't want to believe you."

He saw Machia's confusion. "Ah, you don't know about those; they're theses seven balls that you gather together, and you get to make any wish you want. I wished to know about my family and heritage, and the dragoon told me. Actually, I think what really happened was the damage I got from my head injury was fixed and I learned about what became of my family. They're all dead now, but my brother died not long too ago, so he might have been the one who destroyed your planet. I'm sorry."

Machia stared at the Saiyajin in disbelief as he leaned against the counter with his arms crossed and stared straight ahead of him. "Let me get this straight," he said. "You thought you were an Earthling before I came along and told you otherwise, correct?" Goku nodded. "And what are you going to do now, go and join the rest of your kind?"

Goku looked down at his boots for a moment and said nothing. Then he slowly turned his head to look at Machia and said, "I-I can't. They have to work for Freeza now. I'm nowhere near strong enough to beat him right now. Right now to join the rest of my kind means to go and serve Freeza. The dragon showed me just a glimpse of him, but it was enough. I won't my life as a pawn of a monster like him."

Machia nodded. "Very well, thank you for telling me this. I'm glad that we have been able to come to an understanding, Kakaratto."

Goku regained his usual cheerful exterior. "That's okay, just call me Goku, alright? I'm gonna go and see if I can find where Gohan ran off to so we can have some dinner. I hope all the food didn't get ruined when Chichi and Bulma had that big fight, 'cause I'm starving!" With that, Goku walked out of the kitchen with the sound of his rumbling stomach following him as he went. 

Machia watched him as he left. 'Something just is not right, he thought, there is something he is hiding from me. I do not know why, but some part my intuition insists that something is about to go wrong. If only I could place what!'

__

********

That night, Goku tucked his son into his bed, assuring him that Daddy would be just across the hall if Gohan should need him. It had taken quite a bit of time to calm Gohan down after he had finally found him hiding inside of a new model hover-car that Dr. Briefs was working on. Eventually, he had managed to coax him out of there and soothe his frazzled nerves. It had always scared Gohan when him and Chichi had a fight, but this one had been a doozy so it had scared him especially bad. 

Gohan gazed up at his father sleepily. "Tell me a story, Daddy," he said sleepily. 

"Okay then son, what story would you like to hear?" Goku asked

"I dunno," Gohan yawned. "Somethin' I haven't heard before."

Goku considered his son for a moment, wondering if the story he was thinking of was really a good idea or not. After a few seconds he said, "Okay then, how about I tell you about the story of the Legendary Super Saiyajin? Once upon a time there was a great Saiyajin warrior named who was really strong…" 

********

Time passed by, and Son Goku was still residing with his son at Capsule   
Corp.  
  
Machia had apparently decided to settle there, as well. He had been   
convinced that Goku was not the Saiyajin he had been looking for, but Machia   
still had his misgivings, and decided to keep an eye on him. He knew, in any   
case, that his screaming, black-haired demon of a mate was definitely   
dangerous. Briefly, he had pondered what exactly would posses someone to   
mate with such a creature. He decided that it was either the desire to find   
a mate similar in nature to a Saiyajin, he hadn't known her true nature when   
he first mated to her, or possibly extreme alcohol excess. Machia decided it   
would be prudent to stay away from her no matter what the circumstances. Far   
away.  
  
In spite of what he thought of either of his parents, Machia found that he   
had something of a fondness for Gohan. The child seemed both intelligent and   
polite, both of which traits were considered highly desirable in Vellian   
society. He spent most of his day with him, playing games and teaching him   
what he knew of interplanetary customs and traditions, as well as some   
mathematic and scientific theorems he doubted were widely known on the   
Earth. Ironically, Gohan was learning more from him during his stay at   
Capsule Corp. than he had under his mother's tyrannical supervision.  
  
Bulma's mother and father were both delighted to have Goku and Gohan staying   
with them. Bulma's mother was always too happy to cook all of the necessary   
food to sustain two Saiyajin, and Dr. Briefs needed Goku's help to test a   
machine that he was working on that increased gravity inside of a   
specialized room. Both of Bulma's parents had inexplicably come to the   
conclusion that Machia was a stray cat that Bulma had picked up somewhere.   
They insisted on calling him 'kitty', despite the fact that Bulma pointed it   
out to them that he was bipedal, bright blue, and could talk. Machia, for   
his part, assumed it was a rather odd earth custom, and in any case didn't   
want to offend the Brief family because they were his hosts. He needed to   
stay at Capsule Corp. because that was where Goku was.  
  
Goku enjoyed the time he his stay at Capsule Corp. because it gave him an   
opportunity to think without anyone interrupting him. For the last year, he   
had found that he felt some kind of unnamable discontent with his life. He   
had a loving wife, a nice home, everything, but he could not shake the   
feeling that something was out of place in his life. True, the occasional   
evildoer would come looking for trouble, and this would give him a nice   
challenge, but that wasn't what his life lacked. It didn't shake the   
feeling that something was absent from his life. It was like he felt lonely   
or something. He could not understand why. His discontent had begun to   
become more and more apparent, and Chichi could not abide by it. She had   
wanted a family man, a husband that would come home after work at the office   
and read the newspaper, not one that would not go off looking for   
dragonballs and go wander around looking for 'strong guys' to fight. She   
wanted a normal man who was happy living a normal life.  
  
At first he had thought that maybe if he spent some time away from it all   
and had some time to think he could straighten things out. Twice he had   
called her to come over to talk things over, and both times there had been a   
huge scene like on the night Goku summoned the dragon. On the third time,   
their fight had caused such a disturbance that the police had been called.   
It had not been pretty. After that, Goku realized that things where no   
longer reconcilable between him and Chichi. The week after the incident with   
the police, Goku went and got a divorce. The judge had been very good about   
giving him custody once he was aware of Chichi's behavior the week before.   
It pained him to do it, as he felt that it was his fault somehow, but he   
didn't know what else to do.  
  
********  
  
Goku decided to go to the kitchen and see if Mrs. Brief had finished cooking   
dinner yet. When he got there, he saw that she hadn't completely finished   
yet, but there was a plate of freshly baked brownies and that was almost as   
good. Goku decided to have about six of seven of them to tide him over until   
dinner was ready. He got himself a glass of milk and munched away. As he   
ate, he began to absently scratch his tail scar.  
  
"What are you doing?" came a voice from behind him. It was Bulma.  
  
"Eating," he replied around a mouthful of brownie. Bulma glared at him.  
  
"No, I want to know why you're scratching yourself. It's rude."  
  
Goku frowned. "I'm sorry, Bulma, it's just that the place where my tail used   
to be has been really itchy lately. I guess I wasn't thinking about what I   
was doing."  
  
"Itchy?" said Bulma.  
  
He brushed the brownie crumbs off of his gi. "Call me when dinner's ready.   
I'm gonna go find Gohan and find out what it is he's up to. See ya!"  
  
"Ohhhhh, hello, kitty!" squealed Mrs. Briefs as she saw Machia enter the   
room. As Mrs. Briefs scratched his chin and cooed about what a darling   
little kitty he was, Bulma poured herself a mug of coffee and walked off   
towards the living room. There, she plopped down on the couch to watch her   
favorite soap opera "As the Sun Sets". Machia entered the room and sat down   
on the couch with her.  
  
"I would like to ask you something," he said  
  
"What is it?" asked Bulma.  
  
"When I was recovering from the injury that gave me this scar, I remember it   
itched terribly as it healed. I am not familiar with Earthling physiology,   
nor with that of a Saiyajin. I heard you and the Saiyajin, Goku that is,   
talking about it before. His tail scar, I mean. I was wondering if he ever   
complained of his flesh itching as it healed before? I am afraid that his   
tail may be about to regenerate."  
  
Bulma wasn't nearly as disturbed by the idea. "Goku's tail always seemed to   
just regenerate randomly before, but I don't remember being close to him   
right before it grew back before. There's nothing to be worried about,   
though. There's not a moon for them to transform with. Besides, Gohan has   
always had his tail and he's just fine."  
  
"It's not as simple as that," Machia replied. "A Saiyajin's tail is not just   
an ordinary appendage. It does far more than allow it to transform at the   
full moon. I have read documents of studies proving that Saiyajin, which   
have had their tails removed, are less powerful and aggressive. I also have   
heard it said that the glands at the tail's base are necessary for many   
things, and that the true scope of its functions are not apparent until   
after puberty. I distinctly remember you saying a few days ago that Son Goku   
lost his tail many years ago, before he reached puberty. Therefore, the fact   
that he seemed 'normal' to you as a child means nothing. We have no way of   
knowing what change would occur in him if he to regain his tail. Young Gohan   
is only a child, and a hybrid at that, so I doubt the effect is as apparent   
in him." He looked her in the eyes and said in a low, worried, voice, "It   
may be that if and when that tail of his regenerates that we will have an   
entirely different kind of Saiyajin on our hands. He would be very   
dangerous, then, especially now that he knows the truth of who and what he   
is." He laid his ears back and sighed, "If I had never come here, he   
wouldn't know and that wouldn't be a problem. I've gone and turned a   
peaceful Earthling into a Saiyajin."  
  
Bulma slammed her coffee cup down and glared at him. "Look, buddy. I don't   
care what you think, Goku would never-"  
  
"Are you so sure?" he asked. "And exactly how much are you willing to bet?"  
*********  
  
That night Goku had a strange dream. He was running in a deep jungle,   
chasing after something. The moon was full and the night sky was a deep red.   
He could smell the fear coming off of his prey. He could hear it as it   
gasped for breath and the little cries it would make when it stumbled. He   
knew that it was growing tired, and that soon it would be too weary to run.   
Then the hunt would be over, and the prey would be his. 'If only I had   
someone to hunt alongside of me. Then this would be perfect,' he thought.  
  
He pushed himself to run faster, and pounced on the helpless victim. 'Yes,   
perfect.'  
  
Goku awoke to a face-full carpet and the buzz of the alarm clock. 'I must   
have fell off the bed,' he thought. He rolled over onto his back and was   
greeted by a blinding surge of pain on his backside that ran all the way up   
his spine. Goku jumped to his feet in surprise and rubbed the place that had   
hurt. It was still pretty sore there. His tail scar seemed to extend farther   
out than usual, a lot farther in fact, and he could feel a furry something   
brush past his right leg. He froze in pure shock. 'My tail! I have my tail   
back!'  
  
*********  
  
Bulma would later muse to herself that it had been such a peaceful morning,   
too. She had been sipping coffee and reading the business section of the   
newspaper when Goku had come running in yelling his head off about his tail.   
It took some doing, but Bulma managed to calm him down enough to understand   
that he had awoken to find himself with a tail again, and that it was sore   
at the base, but the rest of his tail was okay. Bulma guessed that it had to   
do with the tail glands that Machia mentioned. Apparently, since they hadn't   
been active before, they were working overtime to get Goku's system to where   
it should be, and that was what was causing the discomfort. She told Goku   
this, and it seemed to calm him somewhat. He told her that he was glad it   
had grown back; he just didn't feel right without it. She asked him if he   
wanted her to take a look at it later, to see if there might be anything   
wrong; he said no. Afterwards, Goku said that he was going to go and wake up   
Gohan and left. Bulma simply watched him leave the kitchen and then went   
back to her morning paper.  
  
*********  
  
"What is wrong with you? How can you be so calm?"  
  
A few hours after Bulma had left the kitchen to go and work on the SM00015,   
Machia had come running in screaming that the Saiyajin had regrown his tail,   
that his worst fear had come true, and generally acting like a chicken with   
its head cut off, in Bulma's opinion. When Bulma had voiced her lack of   
concern, he had lost it.  
  
"Every time I come to you and try to warn you, you act as if it's nothing!   
'Oh, don't worry about the bloodthirsty, violent, murdering, warmongering   
alien! We've known him forever! I'm SURE he won't kill us! Oh, tra la la   
la!' How, for the love of the stars, did your species get such a high   
population when none of you have any sense whatsoever? No, tell me, I want   
to know!"  
  
Bulma could tell he was going to go on like this for a while if she didn't   
take any evasive action. He sure was acting all know-it-all and   
condescending about the whole thing. 'Well pardon me for not betraying my   
best friend the first second some alien comes toddling along ranting and   
raving at me,' she thought sarcastically. Bulma watched him storm about the   
room, gesticulating wildly and shouting. 'The way he's yelling, I bet Goku   
can hear every word he says plain as day. Heh, I should tell him that, give   
him a bit of a scare.'  
  
"You know," she said, "I've known Goku for quite a while now, almost fifteen   
years. We're pretty close, almost like brother and sister. I know him well   
enough to know that he can hear pretty good. I bet he's heard every single   
word you've said since you came in here bawling about his tail growing   
back." Bulma leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head in a   
relaxed gesture. "I hope he doesn't get too mad at all the nasty things   
you've said to me today. I mean, what with that nasty temper he's supposed   
to have and all."  
  
Machia looked at Bulma lounging in her computer chair with a mixture of fear   
and wonder. 'Are all of the women of this world insane? First that terrible,   
screaming, one and now this. Maybe this is why the Saiyajin never finished   
his mission. I would not want to face down a planet full of creatures like   
these for anything.'  
  
Bulma was grinning from ear to ear. 'Nothing like winning an argument to   
start your morning out right,' she thought with satisfaction.  
  
Machia waited for a moment to think the situation through. 'There is only   
one more way to sway her. I must get her to talk to someone else that knows   
the true nature of the Saiyajin. When she hears the truth from another, she   
will see that I am neither mad nor deceiving her, and she will accept the   
truth. The Saiyajin trusts her, I know this. I will need to use that trust   
to destroy the Saiyajin and prevent him from causing any suffering before he   
can get the chance. She does not know the true gravity of this situation   
yet, but it is my duty to make her understand. I set things wrong by turning   
the Earthling into a Saiyajin, and I will set them right again, no matter   
what the cost. This is the only way.'  
  
He remained silent for a moment, then he looked at her with the most sincere   
and entreating look he could muster. "Please forgive me for my outburst   
before. It was wrong of me to take my frustration out on you. I am sorry,   
but you must understand that I only want to help you. I have seen the   
destruction that a Saiyajin of lesser power than Goku can create. I cannot   
stand to see it happen again. Surely you understand why I am still afraid,   
even though you have assured me that there is no threat. If I could return   
to my ship, I could get into contact with someone who knows far more of   
Saiyajin physiology than I. He is a trader who has had contact with many   
worlds and he did some business with the Saiyajin shortly before their world   
was destroyed. He will be able to tell us for sure where things stand. If he   
doesn't know, then he'll know of someone who will. Failing that, he owes me   
enough to go and find someone should I ask."  
  
"My spaceship is not too far form here, but it will still take at least an   
hour to get to it. Please come with me. Then we will both know for  
certain whether there is any danger, and we can both be at ease. Also, you   
can answer any questions that I cannot. It would be better if you   
accompanied me to my ship. Would you please do so?"  
  
Bulma still felt that there was no crisis to speak of, but the prospect of   
seeing a real alien spaceship was too compelling to deny. "Sure, I'd love to   
see your spaceship. Just let me go get the capsule for the plane from my   
room. Wait here for a sec."  
  
********  
  
A few minutes later they were riding in the SRP101784 deluxe airplane   
(available in the Capsule Corp. catalog for 18,000 zenni) toward where   
Machia had said he had left his ship. He said he had landed at a clearing in   
a remote valley surrounded by mountains that were uninhabited so that if the   
cloaking device had malfunctioned, it would most likely still be   
undiscovered. Apparently, while it was designed to keep the ship invisible   
to both radar and the naked eye indefinitely, the ship was badly in need of   
repair and he had been too intent on finding the Saiyajin that killed his   
people to worry with it.  
  
They arrived at their destination, and Machia jumped out of the plane as   
soon as it landed and walked a few paces toward the center of the clearing.   
He said slowly and clearly in a strange tone, "J'soin ourirah rou." It was   
as if the clearing was a room, and a door opened to another off-white room   
some ten feet away. "The cloaking program is still running, but it only   
covers the exterior of the ship, so when the door opens you can see into the   
ship's interior," he explained.  
  
They walked inside the ship, and Bulma saw that all of the interior ship was   
the same off-white, save the screen at the far side, which was a very dark   
blue. There was nothing in there except the screen, and a door to the left   
that presumably led from the bridge to the living quarters and the rest of   
the ship. Bulma saw that there appeared to be no controls anywhere and   
wondered aloud why.  
  
"All of the controls are voice operated, and keyed to the sound of one's   
voice so that an intruder cannot take control of the ship," he said before   
he turned to the screen and said in the same odd sounding tone. "J'sa louv   
ra nea." The screen turned from dark to light blue. He continued speaking   
commands to the computer and after a few moments, it answered back.  
  
It spoke in a deep voice, one that reminded Bulma of a famous singer, but   
she couldn't place which one. Machia frowned. "That is the voice of the ship   
that belongs to my trader contact. It says that he isn't available right   
now, but I suspect he just doesn't feel like taking calls. I-" As he spoke,   
a low beeping sort of noise sounded, and alien writing in bright green   
appeared on the screen.  
  
"What's happening?" asked Bulma "Is something wrong?"  
  
Machia laid his ears back. "An unknown ship is approaching this planet at a   
great speed. It should land in just under five minutes. It'll take that long   
to decipher where it's going to land. Judging by the size and speed it   
might well be a planet purger pod. This is very unfortunate. I will try and   
find out what's going on. You contact Son Goku and get him to come here. If   
the situation turns out to be as serious as I think it is, then we'll need   
to have him ready as soon as the ship lands."  
  
Bulma nodded and headed for the built-in phone on the plane.  
  
Machia stopped her midway. "Stop! Do not contact the Saiyajin! I know whose   
ship this is!" He spoke with his back to her, staring at the screen in front   
of him. His voice had a much more fearful and desperate quality to it than   
before. "Yes, I know who this is. When I was searching out the Saiyajin   
responsible for the slaughter of my people, I found out that there were only   
two left. One is the Saiyajin known as Goku, who is here on Earth. The other   
is named after the Saiyajin home world itself, Vegeta. It is said that he is   
more powerful and more ruthless than can ever be imagined. He is the crown   
prince of the Saiyajin, after all. I knew I could never face such a creature   
in battle and live, but I found out the code of his personal pod to use for   
future reference nonetheless. It is that same ship which is about to land on   
this world." Slowly Machia turned and stared at Bulma with unblinking eyes.   
"He is coming here. It seems the great and noble prince Vegeta has come to   
pay his last subject a little visit."  
  



End file.
